Have you ever experienced a sense of dizziness just a couple of minutes of early dirt time? I have, I won’t hide you that. It comes out that my mind and my eyes start to tremble in the precise moment I need them the most. You can easily figure out the scene: I’m just arrived in the woods and I start to do my regular dirt time when I soon realize that I can’t focus my eyes and my mind as much as I would, and I can feel like a sense of lightheadedness. Odd, isn’t it? I used to get mad about that. Oh, I was super upset with myself I mean. I used to start considering how many hours of good sleep I had, what I had for supper, if I drank too much beers the evening before. Yep, I had this habit of making a list of all the possible “bad things” I’ve done just in order to understand the reasons beyond that dizziness (the cause behind an awful performance as well I mean!)

After long thoughts I came out with this simple explanation: that dizziness came from the sudden projection of me inside a different scenario. That’s exactly what I mean: you can’t simply reach the woods, jump off the car and tell yourself: ok, let’s track. You can’t, unless you are a Master Tracker (and surely I’m not already that!).

You need much more time – to be precise, your OWN time to project yourself into a new scenario, especially if you live in a big town as I do. You kinda have to detox yourself from urban environment and get in a brand new one. Woods have their own light, their own voice, their own laws. You must take your time to immerse yourself in them.

I’m not talking about hippie stuff or what. I just tell you how many benefits it has when it comes to Tracking. Craig Caudill from  Nature Reliance School  in his awesome book Extreme Wilderness Survival mentioned that too.

Take it easy, find yourself motionless in the middle of the very first woods you come across during your training, take deep, relaxing breaths and pay attention to all the details your eyes and mind can catch. This will be a great aid to your Tracking skill. It worked a lot on me and still it does!

I eventually come out with this consideration about that annoying dizziness: I just had to become familiar with a new scenario, and develop my capability of reception of every single detail of that environment.

It sounds easy and beneficial, doesn’t it? Let’s try and see!

Kyt